Cincinnati Football: Jabari Taylor, Tre Tucker headline new team captains

Luke Fickell revealed the team captains for this season are graduate defensive end Jabari Taylor, graduate linebacker Wilson Huber, senior right guard Dylan O’Quinn, senior wide receiver Tre Tucker and senior tight end Josh Whyle.

The Bearcats will travel to Arkansas for a highly-anticipated matchup against the 19th ranked Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon. All five recently-named captains will play an important role as the team attempts to upset Arkansas on the road.

Cincinnati Football: Jabari Taylor, Tre Tucker headline team captains

Graduate defensive end Jabari Taylor

• Height: 6’1
• Weight: 280
• Akron, Ohio
• Hoban High School
• 29 tackles and two sacks in 2021
• 33 appearances in four seasons
• 2016 Cleveland.com All-Star Team
• 2022 Preseason All-AAC Third Team

Graduate linebacker Wilson Huber

Height: 6’4

Weight: 250

Indianapolis, Indiana

Franklin Central High School

15 tackles and three sacks in 2021

28 appearances in four years

5-time AAC Academic Honor Roll member

2021 Cotton Bowl’s Scholar Athlete honoree

Senior right guard Dylan O’Quinn

• Height: 6’4
• Weight: 305
• Toledo, Ohio
• Lake High School
• 21 career starts
• 37 appearances in four seasons
• 2021 All-AAC First Team honors
• 2022 Preseason All-AAC First Team

Senior wide receiver Tre Tucker

• Height: 5’9
• Weight: 185
• Akron, Ohio
• Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
• 426 yards and two scores on 34 receptions
• 38 appearances in three seasons
• 2021 PFF College All-AAC Third Team
• 2022 Preseason All-AAC Third Team

Senior tight end Josh Whyle

• Height: 6’6
• Weight: 250
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• La Salle High School
• 332 yards and six touchdowns on 26 catches
• 25 in-game appearances in three years
• 2021 All-AAC Honorable Mention
• 2022 Preseason All-AAC First Team

Team captains Taylor and Huber headline a strong defensive unit alongside veterans Jowon Briggs, Arquon Bush, Ja’von Hicks, Deshawn Pace, Ivan Pace Jr, Jaquan Sheppard, Malik Vann and more. It’s clear Luke Fickell’s defense will be the driving force behind the program this year.

The other three team captains reside on the offense as O’Quinn, Tucker and Whyle hope to finish their career with another conference championship. We’ll see how the season develops but it seems like there is a solid group of leaders that should continue to push the program forward.